Portside Arts Center
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  • Portside at Cherry Street Pier

Portside Arts Center @
​Cherry Street Pier

121 N. Columbus Blvd in Philadelphia

Cherry Street Pier is a year-round, mixed-use public space on the central Delaware River waterfront. Built into the shell of a century-old municipal pier, it is a reflection of Philadelphia today—creative, diverse, historic, adaptable, and inspired.

Portside is one of thirteen artists and non profit organizations to have a studio space at Cherry Street Pier, which has repurposed shipping containers into artist studios and galleries. This studio and gallery space is an addition to our 2531 E Lehigh Ave location where we continue to provide the community with arts education. Artists and organizations utilize the spaces to create work, educate, and host arts exhibitions and programs. Visit us at Studio #12 in Cherry Street Pier!


​Classes at Cherry Street Pier
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Upholstery
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Saturday Youth Class
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Teen Portfolio Building Workshop
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Family Art Night

Portside Arts Center's
Artist in Residence Program


​Each month, a new artist from the Portside Arts Center community will be a featured resident artist in Portside’s studio space at Cherry Street Pier. This talented artist in residence will be creating artwork in the studio during their assigned month. They will also show their work in our monthly First Friday exhibition, and give an artist talk to the public during their month in residence. 

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Kim Creighton
March Artist in Residence

Portside's very own Founding Director Kim Creighton will be our resident artist for the month of March. Kim is a multi media artist specializing in welding, sculpture, mosaic, painting, epoxy and collage to name a few. She's drawn to vibrant color, geometric motifs and texture. Kim enjoys making art with anything she can get her hands on. She likes to repurpose, recycle, and she also likes to reflect geometric shapes in her abstract art.

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Jeffro Kilpatrick
November Artist in Residence
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Jeffro is a Philadelphia-based cartoonist and art teacher. He co-founded the Philadelphia Cartoonist Society in 1997 and is a longtime member of the Meathaus Comics Collective. In 2015, Jeffro won a SEED grant (Supporting Entrepreneurship in Education), an annual event presented by PhillyCORE Leaders for his Philly Artrepreneurs program. Jeffro also codesigned a community mural in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia with the Mural Arts Program.

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Cesar Viveros
October Artist in Residence
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Cesar Viveros is a renowned artist from Veracruz, Mexico who has painted murals throughout Philadelphia, including the well known mural depicting Pope Francis entilted "The Sacred Now." He has been collaborating with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program since 1997. His Public work has been inspired by the communities he has served throughout the years to whom he has become the extended voice of their particular ideology, recurring primarily on documentary work that helps him to visually articulate these individual stories to be exposed to a broader audience.
Cesar's 'personal' art work is more like a glimpse into the Mexican ancient world on contemporary public settings for people from different venues interested in syncretism studies. Whether they are Mexican immigrants reaching out to reconnect with their cultural origins and for their vanishing cultural heritage, Hispanic people curious about typical Mexican ancient celebrations that may differ from other countries, or the general public interested in celebrations that define Mexican culture, they can experience it throughout Cesare's diverse artwork. The incorporation of Aztec Dance and ceremonies, large scale as well as miniature altars for Day of the Dead, monumental sculptures, Fresco painting, and mosaic and feather work are examples of some of his signature work outside of painting murals.

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Veronica Ponce de Leon
September Artist in Residence

​Veronica is a multi-media artist from Culiacán in Sinaloa, Mexico. Her paintings, paper mache, and found object sculpture have strong ties to her Mexican heritage, and reflect her experiences. Growing up surrounded by flowers and fruit markets, Veronica is inspired by her senses and surroundings. "It is my love for popular art, where through a clay jug, a pot, a pinata or an embroidered apron, a life story is told...a brief look at culture giving tradition to the beings that make up the community. My art is fed by my experiences, by the wonderful people who bring good or bad moments to my life. Thanks to this balance of good-bad, black-white, night-day, I can continue advancing in my unstoppable way of life: a life dedicated to artistic expression. I dance because I believe in happiness and love music; I paint because I see colors; I write because I love the lyrics and their impact; I am an actress because I can get lost immersed in a stage; I protest because I have a voice."

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Chris Windle
July & August Artist in Residence
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Chris' vast body of work spanning over 50 years ranges from technical still life oil paintings, to cardboard to sculpture to illustrations for children's books. The artistic talent that Chris possesses is amazing!  Chris graduated from Tyler School of Art in 1982 after traveling around America in the early 70's, and started a big family soon after. Since, he worked as the Rec. Leader 1 at Starr Garden Recreation Center in Philadelphia, has been represented at Gallery 51 in Philadelphia, published a children's book in Colombia, and much more! He loves to create found object sculpture, and experiment with clay and alternative materials. Since retirement from the Recreation Center, Chris has been working part time at the Portside for a year. He is referred to as the "Einstein of Art" at the Portside, for his endless knowledge of art history which he shares with students and teachers.

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Our Gallery Space...

​In addition to Portside's monthly Artist in Residence, our gallery contains the work of other community artists, Portside students, and faculty. This work is changed out monthly and featured in Portside's monthly First Friday art exhibitions. All artwork in the gallery is for sale. 

​All artists have generously agreed to donate a percentage of their sales to Portside to help us sustain our programming during this difficult time.
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Community artists currently exhibited in the gallery space include:
  • Kim Creighton 
  • Bill Dankanis
  • Salvatore Damiano​
  • Chris Windle
  • After School Arts Program Pirates

You can view the work of our featured artist in the Portside's Online Art Gallery.
Online Art Gallery

What To Know For Your Next Visit...

Cherry Street Pier is instilling safety procedures to help maintain a relaxing, clean, and fun environment for everyone.

  • The Pier’s capacity will be capped at 250 individuals.
  • At the discretion of the artists, visitors will be allowed into the studios. Studio capacity is 2 visitors.
  • Visitors will be required to wear masks unless they are eating or drinking.
  • Food and beverage may only be consumed in the Garden and in the front of the Pier.
  • All forms of payment will be accepted at on-site vendors.
  • Sanitizing stations will be available throughout the Pier.
  • Special signage will be posted to help visitors practice physical distancing.
  • Bathrooms will be open to the public and sanitized hourly.

Thank You, Riverwards Group!

We would like to give an ENORMOUS thanks to Riverwards Group, who is sponsoring Portside at Cherry Street Pier. Riverwards Group has generously offered to provide funding for studio rent for the duration of Portside's artist residency. We're very grateful for this abundant generosity that our neighbor in the Port Richmond community has given to help the Portside Arts Center thrive, and to help continue "Empowering the Artists of Tomorrow."
 
RWG is a full-service development company driven by an internal team of qualified real estate professionals whose combined breadth of experience integrates all areas of real estate design and development. Open and clear communication as well as proficient execution enable us to successfully deliver our commitment to the highest standard that will exceed our customers expectations.
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  • Home
  • About
    • Board | Staff
    • History | Mission
    • Reviews
    • Supporters
    • Opportunities >
      • Jobs
      • Teaching Artists Work Trade Program
      • Summer College Internship
      • Young Artists Residency Program
      • Volunteer
    • Portside Videos
    • Portside's Blog
    • Contact Us
    • Gift Card
  • Programs
    • Virtual Art Classes
    • Kids & Teens >
      • Summer Arts Camp
      • Portside Creative Classroom
      • Saturday Youth Class
      • Teen Portfolio Building Workshop
      • Family Art Night
    • Adults >
      • Upholstery
      • "Artists at Lunch"
    • At Home Art Resources >
      • Art Activities >
        • #PortsideArtChallenge
  • Events
    • Day of the Dead Celebration
    • Kids Halloween Party
  • Gift Shop
  • Donate
    • Donate
    • Sponsor PAC
    • Mobile Advertising
  • Portside at Cherry Street Pier